The Nature of These Lines

I share poetry lines that move me and why they move me in this poetry series called “These Lines.” I am still reading The Carrying by Ada Limon, so lines from her poems made it to this series again.

I hate the world, the pain of it that circles in us,

that makes us want to be the moon,

the treasure, and not the thing on the sea

floor.

from “The Dead Boy” by Ada Limon

I have found myself hating the world and its pain. I love how Ada includes everyone in this “want[ing] to be the moon” with her use of “us.” I have also wondered what it would be like to be something nonhuman: a flower, a river, a bird.

“Notes on the Below” is a beautiful poem as a whole. I love how Ada addresses this cavern and asks it to tell her things about life. Throughout the poem she talks about envy, desire, greed, and forgiveness. She wonders what it must be like to be a cavern and gives it human-like qualities. I wonder what secrets this cavern keeps.

When the dead return they will come to you in dream and in waking, will be the bird knocking, knocking against glass, seeking a way in,

This summer my aunt shared stories about how a family member shows up in her dreams and has given her messages like checking up on other family members. I don’t know if dead people can visit us in our dreams, but the idea of it fascinates me. How a loved one can come back in a different form.

It’s the nature of poetry, it’s the nature of these lines to make me look at the world with a sense of magic.

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4 thoughts on “The Nature of These Lines”

In response to the poetry lines referring to a world of pain, I have found pain to be exquisite at times. We work very hard to numb or dull our pain. In fact, for me, work helps me avoid thinking about pain. After working and serving in Africa for six years, I was burnt out. I was totally numb. I couldn’t feel anything—no emotions. After months and even a year, feelings slowly began to return. Finally, after ten years and In torrents of tears, I grieved the death of my father. It was wonderful to be able to feel again—even to feel pain. If we don’t feel pain, we can’t feel love either.
About whether dead people can visit us in dreams, read Luke 16-19-31. Keep writing!

Kathy, I think I’m in that process right now of not numbing the pain anymore. I went through a couple of periods in my life where I believe I experienced depression without really knowing, and numbing/dulling the pain was my go to. Thank you for sharing you experience and for your comment! 🙂

I do think that dead and alive people can visit us – especially in dreams ^_^
I do sometimes H.A.T.E. the pain of the world but it seems like a cycle, a bit like in the hero journey. To get to the butterfly, one must be a caterpillar first… thinking of buddhism now, I guess they say one of the ‘goals’ is to stop living in both extremes… nothing is bad, nothing is good… just living in the in-between… oh well, I’m not sure if this makes sense hehe